Definitely A Good Thing
by Tie-grr
Summary: Emmy has nowhere to go so good ol' Hershel offers for her to stay with him. And Luke of course. But what mischief could possibly happen? HershelxEmmy pairing within. Rated for some sexual reference.


_This is still the first part of my entry! It didn't turn out as I had originally planned but with nearly two months of work gone into it I am just glad it is finished with ;)_

* * *

Hershel was beginning to wonder if this was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. It had been the right thing to do when the issue arose, Emmy needed somewhere to stay and he had a home with space. It had been very empty before Luke moved in, so much so that he had barely spent any time in it. He would often fall asleep in his office and there came a time where he no longer minded if he didn't make it home at night. Since Claire died there hadn't been much point, his work consumed him.

But Luke and Emmy had changed his life and there was no doubt that it was for the better. At times it was like going around with two squabbling children but it was worth it, he would never regret a single moment of his time with them. Emmy delighted in teasing Luke and he always gave her the exact reaction she wanted. But it was always gentle and when it came to work, well, he couldn't have solved half of the things he had done without those two. Perhaps having them both in his house would be a _very_ good thing.

"Professor, are you going deaf? I swear you're not that old."

He suddenly became aware of his surroundings again, coming out of his own head. He was sat behind his heavy wooden desk in his home study. The walls were lined with bookshelves to match, jam packed full of books and artefacts. A fireplace was the only thing other than the large window on the opposite wall to break the lines of shelving. A large mirror hung above the hearth and it was in the reflection that he saw Luke standing just inside the door.

"Luke," The boy was grinning at him. "I'm sorry. What did I miss?"

He pushed himself up from the comfortable leather chair and rounded the desk. He smoothed down his clothing and fixed his hat.

"Emmy had to knock three times, I was upstairs. I figured you would answer the door to her but on the third knock I decided to finally come down."

"I shouldn't be surprised that you were completely lost in thought, Professor." Emmy had appeared in the doorway and was casually leaning against the door frame, smiling at him. He smiled back. "Thank you for letting me in, Luke."

The boy nodded his head and vanished back up to his room. He spent a lot of time up there, reading and working on all sorts of things. Hershel didn't mind it, the boy had a sharp mind and it was good for him to exercise it. It also gave him time alone to get his work done.

"I am sorry I didn't hear you. Are your bags in?"

"Ever the gentleman. They are just inside the door; you are welcome to carry them to my room as I know you are just itching to do so." She smiled knowingly at him and he slipped past her to gather up the three bags.

Emmy didn't strike him as a woman who would have a lot of things, she never brought that much with her when they went away on cases, but the three bags were deceptive in their image. They may have looked small and easy enough for him to carry in one go but that was not the case.

"These things weigh a tonne, what on earth have you got in them?"

"Do you really want to know? Be careful! My camera is in that one!" She saved the smallest one from under his arm; she clearly didn't trust him not to drop it. But at least it made the load lighter for him.

"I wasn't going to drop it.." He defended but she merely pointed to the stairs. "Double time, pack mule."

He jumped in shock when he felt her hand smack against his backside. She merely grinned at him when he looked back at her, eyes wide. She raised her hand as if to smack him again so he got moving, trotting up the stairs to the once spare room that was now hers.

"Is that what got you kicked out of your old place? Abusing the landlord?"

"Oh, aren't you hilarious, Professor?" She laughed, only a few steps behind him. "No, I was kicked out because the landlord was a right sod who decided I wasn't young and pretty enough for his tastes."

Hershel stopped dead, once more shocked. He turned to face her and she merely shrugged, slipping past him into the room he had just stopped at.

"Come on, I want to get unpacked before bed!"

Not young or pretty enough? For a start, how insulting that the man would take his tenants in on such grounds. But also, she wasn't very old. Maybe she wasn't in her early twenties but she was certainly beautiful. The most beautiful creature he had laid eyes on. He put her bags down on the double bed, still lost in his own thoughts so she ushered him out of the room to unpack. It was nearing seven o'clock so he left her to unpack before retiring to bed. He checked on her before he did so, it seemed she was settling in fine so he felt happy to go to bed with a full home.

XXX

A loud noise from downstairs awoke Hershel from his peaceful slumber. It had taken him long enough to fall asleep in the first place and now his dream had been interrupted. He couldn't remember what it had been about, the memory had vanished the instant his eyes had opened but he did know that he would give anything to go back to it. But with Luke and Emmy in the house it was his duty to investigate the source of the noise. He got out of bed and took a moment to locate his dressing gown.

Whenever he was away working, either on a dig away from home or on a case such as when he went to Misthallery, he could sleep in orange pyjamas which matched his every day shirt, but at home he would sleep in his underwear. Confronting a possible burglar in his underwear would not be the best idea. He wrapped the black robe around his body and made sure the tie was secured.

He carefully made his way down the stairs, keeping an eye out for any signs of life. He could hear sounds coming from the kitchen so he cautiously rounded the corner. He had not been expecting such a sight.

Before him, reaching up into a top cupboard stood a scantily clad Emmy Altava. She wore a large grey t-shirt which he guessed would usually cover her backside But she was reaching up into the mug cupboard so the material had ridden up to reveal yellow and white polka dot panties. His breath hitched in his throat and he turned so his back was to her. He could feel a bright blush burning his cheeks. He suddenly remembered what he had been dreaming of and felt a surge of both shame and arousal. He tugged open the front of his dressing gown and prayed rather hopelessly that a well-aimed glare at his crotch would keep him from getting too excited.

_She was bent over his desk and his hands ghosted over her bare back. Not a scrap of clothing remained on her body above the waist; he was in a similar state of undress. His orange shirt lay over her yellow coat on the floor where the items had been shed in haste. His hands dropped to her trousers, tickling across the back of her thighs before he tugged down the white material. She wore nothing underneath just to excite him even more. _

_His hand brushed over her lower back, down her backside and back up her inner thighs to dip into her most intimate area.._

"_Professor.."_

"Professor?"

He spun abruptly to see Emmy's smiling face. She opened her mouth to speak but she closed it again as her eyes drifted down his body. When he realised what she was looking at he pulled his gown closed again.

"A tighty whities man, eh? No! Don't close your gown!" She was teasing him; she had that sparkle of mischief in her eyes. Another blush tinged his cheeks.

"You're up very late.." He cleared his throat in an attempt to get the strength in his voice back.

"I couldn't sleep so I came looking for hot chocolate. I didn't mean to wake you. But I like your bed head."

He reached up to his hatless head and ran his fingers through his soft, messy hair. "Well, you didn't think that I slept in my hat, did you?"

"Of course not! I also didn't think you would have such a nice body. Ah! The kettle is done!"

Hershel just stood in shock whilst Emmy happily made her cup of hot chocolate. She thought he had a nice body, which was an interesting piece of information. Especially considering the dream he'd had.

"Would you like on?" Emmy was suddenly by his side and was offering him the mug of hot chocolate she had just made. He smiled and took it from her with a small thanks. He sat at the table whilst she busied herself making her own cup.

"I am glad to see you've made yourself at home after just a few hours."

"Well, you said I could!" She grinned back at him. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all." He turned into the table now that she had taken a seat opposite him.

"I really didn't mean to wake you, Professor."

"It's all right, Emmy. Luke sleeps through almost anything so I am used to being the only one making noise in the mornings. It was just a surprise, is all."

"I had noticed he wasn't that fond of mornings." The two laughed and Hershel finally took a sip of his hot chocolate, he had left it to cool down. They fell into a comfortable silence for a while but Hershel broke it.

"What you said about your landlord.. It annoyed me that he was so rude. So, I want you to know that you are welcome here as long as you need it, Emmy." He stood up and placed his empty mug in the sink ready for washing in the morning. He leant back against the sink, arms folded over his chest. "Besides, it will be useful. We work together and we often go off on all sorts of cases together. We might be able to get things done faster."

"Oh, thank you Professor!" She grinned and jumped up from the table to hug him tight. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and gave her a squeeze in return.

"It's nothing, Emmy.. I have always had the space and there is no way I can just turn you out on the street."

"Oh!" She pulled back to look at him but her arms were still wrapped around his body. "That's it, is it? This is just you being a gentleman, not because you like me or anything."

"I-"

"It's alright, Professor, I was teasing." She smiled and kissed him ever so gently on the lips. "We had best get back to bed. You have class to teach in the morning, in case you have forgotten."

And without another word she was gone, going back up the stairs to her room leaving a very stunned Professor leaning against the counter. He doubted it had meant anything to her but that kiss on the lips was utterly incredible for him. He came out of his trance and blushed furiously when he felt a shift beneath his robe. He covered himself with both hands. _Oh boy.._

XXX

"So how old is this one?"

Hershel could hear the voices from his bedroom. He had no idea where the source was but he knew it was downstairs. It wasn't like him to sleep in but when he had returned to bed the dreams had returned and kept him in the dream world for as long as he was able to cling to the fantasies. But Luke's voice had finally woken him and one glance at the clock told him he should have been up over an hour ago. He was sure it had been Emmy's idea to let him sleep; Luke would have no problems waking him if he slept in.

"Well, I am no expert on Irish Archaeology, you'd have to ask the Professor for sure.. But I would say it is six thousand years old.. Maybe five?"

Emmy's response was more hushed but now that he was awake he could hear her. Judging by the date given they were in his office, looking at his collections. He pulled his dressing gown on over his underwear and made his way down to greet the pair.

"Five thousand years old?! Wow!" Luke had his nose pressed right up to the glass and Hershel fought the urge to chuckle at the boy's enthusiasm. He had always shown interest in the artefacts he had accumulated and adorned his house with but he had never asked too much detail on them.

"Hmm, you see, in Ireland they were later to develop than us. So their Neolithic, the time when farming began, was only around six thousand years ago. That is when they first started to develop arrow heads. For hunting, whatever you wish to guess at.."

Hershel smiled to himself as he leant against the doorframe of his office. It was nice to see she had listened to him whenever she sat in on his class. He had been speaking on Irish Archaeology a month or two back and she seemed to have remember what he had been saying.

"Neolithic?"

"Yeah, new stone.. Before then it was the Mesolithic, the middle stone. Back then they used microliths to fashion their weapons and harpoons. They are literally tiny pieces of flint.. Great workmanship. Look, the professor has a few here." She pointed to some pieces to the left of the arrowhead.

"I have several more in my office, somewhere under those stacks of papers." Luke visibly jumped but Emmy seemed unsurprised by his sudden announcement.

"Professor!" Luke grinned at the man as he entered the room, recovered from his fright now. "We were looking at your collections. They are really interesting!"

Hershel approached the cash and gently nudged Luke's hat out of place. "You steamed up the glass, made it grubby. I hope you plan on cleaning it up when you are done."

The boy clearly knew he was teasing as he fixed his hat and ran off to get a cloth to wipe off the streaks. When he turned to look at Emmy he could see she was smiling at him, seemingly lost in thought.

"What is it?"

"You're sweet with him."

A blush heated his cheeks and he dropped his head briefly. "It's nothing really.."

"Nonsense. You get along great with each other. He really looks up to you." She gently neatened the lapels of his dressing gown, smoothing them down as one had been standing up. She then lightly patted his chest with both hands. Her hands stayed on his chest, the warmth permeating through the material of his gown. "It is sweet. Almost like Father and Son."

He found his concentration fading when her hands stayed upon his chest. But he did manage to form some words together in a sentence. "It is sweet?"

"Mmm, very. Gets you a lot of attention from women." She laughed softly and kissed his cheek. "Breakfast is waiting for you, you don't want to be late for your lectures."

"You cooked? Should I be worried?"

She playfully smacked him as she walked past him and out of the room. "Eat it if you want, Hershel, it's up to you."

He laughed softly and went to enjoy breakfast. He expected to find just some toast but once he entered he recognised the smells of a full English. She had been busy. But he was thankful for the care she had shown in making it for him. And his cheek still burned from where her lips had come into contact with his skin.

_Hershel.. You have fallen hard._

XXX

Class was going to be a good one this morning. He had been covering Pseudo-Archaeology for the past few weeks and his students were finally beginning to understand the difference and how to identify a pseudo-archaeologist and his pile of utter nonsense. (I am not biased, I swear).

It was a topic that took quite a bit of concentration and he feared he would have trouble concentrating on the subject at hand. A certain assistant was to be sitting in on his lecture and after last night he expected he would find teaching very difficult.

Nerves were bubbling up inside of him as he approached his lecture hall for the morning. Gressenheller's halls were remarkably empty for first thing in the morning which gave him plenty of time to get to the lecture hall. Often he would have to battle his way through the traffic of many students, all of whom seemed to be bigger than him.

There were a couple of students waiting for him when he entered the hall, the usual students who were always early to class. These students would make good archaeologists one day. He greeted his students and they responded happily but one voice rang out above the rest.

"Good morning, Professor Layton."

"Good morning, Miss Altava." He hadn't expected her to be so early. But he shouldn't have been surprised. She was the best assistant he could ever have asked for. She made sure everything was in order and whatever he needed she would strive to provide. His work life was far more organised since she had come along. He couldn't deal with his university life without her now. She flashed him a smile from the back where she had been talking to his best student. He nodded and smiled back.

He placed the compulsory leather satchel, key item for all archaeologists, on his desk and removed his notes for the day. He only had a few hours of lectures so they would be home early. Students started to filter in just before the hour and he wrote the flour of the day on the chalkboard.

'_The theory of Atlantis.'_

Class was quite enjoyable, as it always was. Pseudo archaeology gave the chance for exciting debates between students as they argued both sides of the theory. Often theories were completely outlandish but they could also be very subtle. Depending on the subtlety of the subject the discussion would have different speeds of passion.

Today was an exciting day and even Emmy joined in. It managed to end with Hershel having a debate with Emmy himself. The sparkle in her eyes told him that she was merely arguing for amusement. He didn't mind it at all. It just proved how intelligent his beautiful assistant really was. Ultimately he won out the argument but he had a feeling that she had just given in when the students around them became bored. At his announcement they all filtered out, gathering up their books and their notes from the desks. Emmy sauntered down the stairs and up to his desk.

"Well, that was fun!" The brunette grinned at her boss as she perched her backside on the edge of the desk.

"Do you actually believe in what you were saying? About it really existing?"

"Not at all. Why?" She smirked slightly. "Would you have dumped me if I had said yes?"

She was teasing him but the use of the term dump made him blush slightly. He cleared his throat and cleared up all of his lecture notes, shoving them back into his bag. "No, no."

When he lifted his head he caught glimpse of her smug grin before she hopped off the table and strolled towards the door. Pausing at the door she flashed him a wink. "I'll be waiting at the car, Hershel, don't be too long. Ah, Dean Delmona. I shall leave you two alone then."

He hadn't noticed the smaller man lurking in the doorway but the look on his face told him that he had heard every word. And seemed quite amused that his assistant was staying with him. "Dean Delmona, do come in. What can I do for you?"

XXX

The Layton Mobile trundled through the streets of London, heading back home minus one passenger. Luke had been begging Hershel to let him stay at a friend's house, as far as he could tell this was the boy's best friend, so he had finally given in. He, Luke and Emmy had had a wonderful evening together the previous night and now it would just be the two of them, alone. He was both excited and nervous about it. The car journey back from Luke's friend's house was a long one, so many thoughts running through his head that he was beginning to get a headache.

Pulling up outside his house he pushed all of those thoughts aside and managed to make it into the building. It was dark when he entered and that sparked a little concern. Emmy was home so why was the house in darkness? Well, not complete darkness, he noted, there was some light coming from the dining room.

"Emmy?" He called softly as he approached the light. Receiving no response he rounded the corner into the room and was blown away by what he found.

"Surprise." Emmy stood at the table wearing a dress. He had never seen her in one nor had he ever expected her to even own one! The plunging neckline caught his eye and he cleared his throat, averting his eyes.

"I certainly am surprised. This looks lovely." The table was set with such care and attention, a piping hot meal waiting for him and decorated with candles.

"I thought, seeing as Luke was out.. We could have a romantic dinner.." She sounded a little nervous, he'd barely ever heard her nervous.

"I think that sounds delightful. Thank you." He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek but it seemed she wanted more. She placed her hands gently on his cheeks and pulled him in for a proper kiss. He was hesitant at first but that didn't last long.

"Come on, tiger, dinner is getting cold." She whispered against his lips, a smile tilting her lips. He smiled sheepishly and pulled her chair out for her.

Dinner was utterly delightful, he had no idea that Emmy was able to cook. But she was pretty darn good at it. Even though the food was delightful and the conversation between the two was easy and enjoyable he kept getting rather distracted. That kiss she had given him had been absolutely perfect. He had often dreamt about what it would be like to kiss Emmy Altava and now that he knew he wanted more and more contact with those sweet lips.

"Hershel? Did you want some dessert?"

"What is it?" He stood to clear the dishes for her.

"I have some ice cream but.. We can always have something else."

He nearly dropped the plates when she suddenly goosed him. He spun around to face her and she just grinned at him. "Just let me clear these plates away.."

"Oh, no, I don't plan on waiting." She took the plates from his hands and placed them back on the table. He swallowed nervously as his beautiful assistant pinned him back against the dinner table, her body pressed up against his.

"Emmy.."

"Hershel. I have waited long enough do not make me wait any longer." Those soft lips were upon his and all thoughts of protesting vanished in an instant. Need for air was the only thing that forced the two apart and even then their lips barely broke contact. Breathing heavily the pair smiled at each other.

"I don't think we should continue this on the dining room table. Come on." Emmy took his hand and blew out the candles. In the dark she led him up the stairs and into his own bedroom. The night would be one to remember.

The moment Hershel woke up in the morning he could feel the absence of her warm body beside him. He sat up in the bed and looked to his side at the empty bed. Immediately he felt a pang of pain. Had she just packed up and left whilst he slept? He had thought their night was almost perfect, probably was perfect!

He sighed heavily and pulled the covers aside, ready to get up until he heard voices downstairs. He recognised them as not only Emmy but Luke also. He quickly covered his naked body back up and turned into the bed in case the boy came up to visit him. Just to confirm his worst fears he heard footsteps approaching his bedroom door. _Don't be Luke, don't be Luke._

His eyes were firmly shut when the door opened and closed again. He gasped in shock when he felt somebody get into bed beside him. His eyes flew open and he found a very sexy looking Emmy grinning at him, dressed in his dressing gown. From what he could see she was completely naked underneath.

"Hiding from me, Hershel? I was only letting Luke in." She gently kissed him then snuggled into his chest. "He came home early, has gone to bed to catch up on sleep."

Perhaps he had overreacted a little when he found the bed empty of her presence but now that she had returned he could relax. He slipped his arms around her and they both settled in for a few more hours sleep.

_Emmy staying with him had most definitely been a good thing._


End file.
